Little Feet aboard the Normandy
by S. Braziel
Summary: Insisting that the two go out and spend some alone time with each other, the ladies aboard the Normandy offer to babysit Shepard and Liara's little one. Excited about the upcoming event, they soon learn just how difficult it can be caring for a toddler.
1. Welcome Aboard

**A/N:** Quick note - My version of Shepard is female, colonist/warhero/paragon. Short brown hair tucked just beneath the ears with medium blue colored eyes. She is paired with Liara. Anyway, on with the story :)

**4/28/11** **-** This chapter has been recently updated as of this date.

* * *

><p>"We've done enough already! How many more modifications are you planning to make?" Jack grumbled, leaning over a roll of carpet as she began to roll it across the floor.<p>

Miranda stood proudly with her hands on her hips, observing her now baby proofed office. "Just this last carpet. The tot's not going to want to spend her whole time in a playpen."

Tali had just finished putting down soft blankets and various toys and stuffed animals in the playpen that had been placed on the right side of the office where Miranda once kept a single swinging chair. She and Kasumi had set the pen up, while Jack was tasked with baby proofing various cabinets around the office and now rolling out a carpet. Even Kelly had a job, she placed soft cushions on the corners and sharp edges around the desk and cabinets. They had all decided Miranda's office would be the safest place for the baby to stay, although all intended to help keep eye on her.

"Make sure it's rolled out completely. And make it straight, no kinks showing." Miranda ordered Jack.

"I don't see your ass on your hands and knees helping out. In fact, you haven't done a thing!" Jack growled at her. "It's your god damn office."

Miranda raised a brow in amusement. "Your right it is but your the one who offered to help. And I have been doing a job; making sure you all have set up everything correctly and is guarantied safe for the baby. It's good to see you finally doing something around here, Jack."

Jack shot her a glare and then worked out the protrusions in the carpet. It was satin white and soft to the touch, almost cushion like made for comfort. "What's the carpet for anyway? Your own little touch to your new office?"

"I believe the carpet is to protect the little one's knees." Kasumi intervened. "The metallic floor would surely leave scrapes and be most uncomfortable for her to crawl on."

"She's exactly right." Miranda affirmed as she watched Jack work.

"Well fuck." Jack responded, working the last of the knots from the carpet. Once it was flat and perfect to Miranda's standards, she stood up and gave a hard pat on Tali's back, holding her hand in place and looking directly into her mask. "Why don't we just stick her in a bubble? Seems to work for Tali when she's crawling around fixing the wires n' shit in my living space."

"I could unfix them and let you be electrocuted if you'd like." Tali countered, holding a stuffed toy in her hands.

Jack laughed and patted her back roughly, "I'm just fuckin' with you bubbles. Anyway, when's Shepard s'posed to be here?"

"Attention, little baby blue is on board. I repeat, baby blue is on board." came Joker's voice over the intercom.

"Eeeee! I'm so excited you guys!" Kelly squealed. The women rushed out of Miranda's office and made their way to the elevator leaving her behind. "Hey, wait for me!"

"Thank you for the announcement, Joker." said Shepard, scowling playfully at him. In her arms she held her one and a half year old daughter. Her skin pigment was the same as Liara's and her eyes were a softer shade of midnight blue in which she inherited from Shepard. Liara stood lovingly beside her with a diaper bag draped over her shoulder. The two adults were both dressed as if they were going to a fancy restaurant, Shepard wore black slacks and a long sleeved top similar to that of an captain's uniform. Liara wore a long sleeveless silken dress that hugged her figure, arm length elegant gloves, and around her neck she wore a fine rope of silver with a diamond pendant attached to it.

"Crew's gotta know we have some precious cargo aboard." Joker said with a sly grin. "Don't worry commander I've got my 'baby on board' sticker right here." He pulled out the yellow triangular sticker from a console on the arm rest of his chair, peeled back the paper and slapped the sticker onto the window next to him. Shepard only shook her head while Liara giggled at the pilot. "Your not actually going to be flying anywhere are you?" the asari then asked.

"No ma'am we'll be docked here on the citadel until you two return." Joker answered. Liara let out a sigh of relief. Her pregnancy had not been easy. She was left alone without the support of the one she had given her heart to. Over the passing trimesters she had become sick due to an extreme amount of stress encountered as being the shadow broker, among the worry for Shepard who had departed shortly after hearing of the news to fight in the reaper war. The worry over Shepard and the heartache she had caused only made things more complicated for the expecting asari. She suffered through the effects caused by stress during pregnancy and as a result it triggered a premature birth. Born three months early, the baby was kept in the hospital under intense care until her body and organs fully developed. Liara had stayed at her daughter's side everyday and night, constantly fearing she would lose her baby due to development concerns and thus became over protective of her. The commander had felt terrible guilt for her absence in a time Liara had needed her most and felt even more so remembering the harsh words she used when she was presented with the news of the pregnancy. She was gone for almost two years fighting in a war.

Now three months after the defeat of the reapers, she had been able to jump aboard the role of a parent. She wanted to be a part of her daughter's life and wanted to be there for Liara through all and everything. She wanted to mend their altered relationship, wanted to find peace and make it to the happily ever after...Shepard began reflecting back on the memories, risking her mission to be there, promising Liara she would return, seeing her daughter in an incubator with a supportive breathing mask attached to her little face...

Her thoughts were suddenly pushed aside upon hearing what sounded like a thundering stampede makings it's way toward the cockpit.

"Shepard!" Tali exclaimed as she strolled up to her and Liara. Catching sight of the quarian, the child's face lit up and she blabbered excitedly as she reached out to her. "Hey there little one!" Shepard handed her daughter over to Tali with a smile and the child's little arms wrapped around the engineer's neck affectionately. The rest of the ladies had finally caught up to her, and they all greeted Shepard and Liara.

"Woo yeah now it's a party! I got all the ladies up here, commander your not the only one getting some action tonight." Joker stated with a wide grin. Shepard rubbed the back of her neck shifting her sight away from everyone as the other women only gave Joker glares. Jack was tempted to make a dirty comment regarding the pilot's 'bone' problem but with the little ears listening in Shepard would surely have her ass. Keeping her mouth shut she snickered to herself.

"Commander, Liara, we really hope you enjoy your special getaway." Miranda said, ignoring the pilot. "Your little girl will be spending most of her time in my office which, with the help of everyone here we made absolute baby proof."

"Yeah, you didn't do shi-" Jack began until she was met with a smack to the back of the head provided by Kasumi. She rubbed the back of her head as she turned and glared at the Japanese thief. Miranda smirked at the action while Kelly awkwardly stared off in the distance as if she didn't notice, fearing the short-tempered psychotic biotic.

"Well..." Shepard said uneasily, "I appreciate the thoughtfulness that you ladies provided us with this opportunity. Are you sure your up to this? Little Rheia can be quite the handful."

"Of coarse we are, Shep!" Kasumi commented as she ventured away from Jack. "By the way you two look great."

"Thank you." Liara said as Kasumi was handed the diaper bag. "Please call us if anything is to happen. Everything she will need is in the bag; clothes, diapers, formula, jarred food, and-"

"Yeah yeah we know how babies work they eat need to be changed and be put down for naps, simple enough." Jack interrupted her.

"I doubt anything will happen, miss T'soni. Doctor Chakwas is aboard, but I will inform you regardless." Miranda told her. Liara gripped the strap of the diaper bag beginning to feel uneasy of the situation. Though she knew Tali had the most experience with taking care of her daughter she was unsure about the others.

"Thanks. Well I suppose we should be heading off." Shepard said. Tali handed Rheia back to her parents as they kissed her goodbye. Liara was a bit reluctant to leave her behind. She had never left her daughter in the care of others before and it was the child's first visit aboard the Normandy. As Shepard handed the girl back to Tali, Liara's hand was met with a soft squeeze afterward by her lover. She glanced at her and the commander's expression offered an 'everything will be okay' look.

"Have a great time, Commander, Liara." Miranda said with a smile.

"Going on a romantic getaway... How lovely!" Kelly daydreamed as her eyes twinkled in thought.

"Wave bye-bye to your mommy, Rheia." Tali said waving as the child mimicked her hand gesture.

"Have a good time, yada yada and all that mushy stuff." Jack said with her arms crossed.

"No worries, Shep! Enjoy your time away with your lady." said Kasumi happily, swinging the diaper bag over her shoulder.

"Take care you guys." Shepard replied as she slid an arm around Liara's waist pulling her close. As they left the Normandy and the airlock closed behind them, Shepard placed a kiss on her lover's forehead. "Don't worry, I trust the crew with my life... They won't let anything happen to her, I know it. She knows Tali best, I'm absolutely sure she will take good care of our little one."

"I know, Rey... I trust Tali, and I'll admit I'm worried about the tattooed woman but I believe you." Liara told her, wrapping her arms around one of Shepard's and rested her head against her shoulder as they began to walk. Shepard gave her another kiss and held her hand.

"I know Miranda and Kasumi have had experience with children. Kelly might have, I'm not sure. Samara has definitely, and she's... most understandably absent from the situation." Shepard said, trying to reassure her. "Let's enjoy our time off together. We'll be back home in three days. Oh and Jack's crazy as hell but she won't do anything stupid."

* * *

><p>"Oh my god! Your gonna drop her!" Kelly hollered as she held her hands up to her face in terror. Tali, Kasumi, and Miranda all reached their arms out toward Rheia as she was hovered in the air, ready to catch her if she fell. She hovered above them being pulled slowly toward Jack who was using her biotic power to lift the child. She giggled happily, waving her arms and kicking her feet obviously enjoying the act of being biotically lifted in the air.<p>

"Relax! She likes it." Jack told the worried women as she focused on the biotic trick. "It's no different then tossing a kid in the air and catching her."

"Jack are you insane?..." Miranda snapped. _That's an understatement_, she thought to herself. Jack only responded with a slight manic cackle just to piss the cheerleader off.

"Put her down this instant!" Kasumi demanded as she and Tali struggled to stay beneath the hovering toddler.

"Oh Keelah..." Tali said worriedly. Kelly had long but hid her eyes from the sight, too afraid to watch. Jack grinned and guided the child through another lap around the room and then brought her down safely into her arms and to everyone's relief. Kelly sighed heavily as did the other three women. Rheia giggled happily and pointed at the ceiling trying to let Jack know she wanted more, but Miranda had snatched her from Jack's arms.

"Come on cheerleader don't be a pansy! She was having fun!" Jack exclaimed, flailing her arms as she spoke.

"You could have dropped her and she would've been seriously injured." Miranda countered with a disgusted face.

Jack sighed, standing with her arms crossed and a look on her face worn by that of an defiant child. "Okay, it was dangerous. But I'm not sorry."

"You would be if you had dropped her." Tali said with slight threat in her voice as she adjusted the toddler's shirt which had been rolled up over her belly.

Jack frowned and clenched her fists for a moment and took a deep breath, "I was having fun with the kid." she admitted as she exhaled, releasing her balled fists. "I promise, no more biotic levitation, let me keep an eye on her for the first few hours. You know, take her on a tour of the ship."

The other four women exchanged glances, nobody said a word. Noticing, Jack folded her arms over her chest and spoke up. "Come on you assholes."

"Fine, but you better have her back here in three hours." Miranda said harshly. "She'll need a nap. And again, watch your language. She doesn't need to be going home with new vocabulary words calling Shepard an a-hole."

Jack snickered as Miranda handed the child over. "Alright alright. Later, ladies." Jack took Rheia with her and left Miranda's office. Tali, Kasumi, and Kelly looked at her incredulously. She just shrugged her shoulders. Then it occurred to her, Jack didn't know anything about the different areas of the ship beside the mess hall, restroom, and her dark hiding hole beneath the engineering deck where quite a few exposed dangers lay. Wait did she just let Jack walk off with a toddler? _Oh shit._

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** If anyone is curious as to Shepard and Liara's past concerning their child situation, I am contemplating the idea of writing out a separate back story of what happened between the two. I have the plot laid out in my head but I'm struggling with adding it within a believable timeline of the mass effect story so far though it is vaguely mentioned above. Oh and as for Samara being absent, fear not because I do have plans for her to appear in this story in later chapters. It wouldn't be complete without her appearance. :)

Hope you all have enjoyed so far!


	2. The Diaper Change with Jack

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews! I will be writing each chapter out with the toddler being in the care of a different crew member, though some of the others will be present at some point along in the chapter. I really enjoyed writing this chapter (Jack is one of my favorites), and I hope you enjoy reading it. :)

* * *

><p>"Well kid, where should we go first?" Jack stood in the elevator with the toddler in her arms. The child's eyes wandered curiously around Jack's exposed tattooed shoulders as she sucked on a pacifier. "Like my ink, huh? Hey I know! Let's go check out your mama's personal cabin... Never seen it before."<p>

Jack pressed the button to the top deck and they arrived a few moments later in Shepard's cabin. She walked through the small space and gave a low surprised whistle at the view before her. The fish tank caught Rheia's attention and as she pointed excitedly at it Jack brought her closer to watch the various fish swim around. She set the child down, fixing her lavender colored shirt that had an imprint of a cartoon-like animal on the front of it. Jack hadn't payed much attention to the child's clothing until now; the shirt was trimmed at the bottom as if to look like a small dress and she had on a pair of pants with the same animal imprint on the pocket corner as her shirt. Her socks were lavender too, and she had on a pair of little white shoes. She sure was a cute kid, Jack had to admit. With the toddler's attention on the fish tank, Jack ventured into the office area examining the contents of Shepard's belongings. The rack of displayed model ships made her laugh, what a nerd Shepard was to have such toys. On the desk there was her terminal, case of various medals, stack of scattered data pads, and a picture of a happy looking Liara. Jack glanced at Rheia who's hands gently poked at the fish tank, and then back at the picture of her mother. _Poor kid's got Shepard's nose,_ she thought with another laugh. Not that there was anything wrong with it of coarse. It was long and slightly wide having traits of various human race's distinctive nose patterns. _What the hell_ _was Shepard anyway?_Jack pondered for a moment until she felt a tug on her pant leg. She looked down and picked up Rheia, sitting her on the desk with her legs dangling over the edge. Now that she was closer the woman got a good look of the child's features. Baby faced just like Liara, and yes, she definitely had Shepard's nose. Rheia picked the picture up in her hands and examined it. After a second she hugged it and as the pacifier fell from her mouth she said, "Mommy."

"Yep." Jack replied as she bent down to pick up the pacifier. "Your a lucky kid, y'know? Having someone like Shepard for a parent..." She gazed at Shepard's medals and thought of all the great things the commander had accomplished. She had heard stories of Shepard's past, her childhood growing up on Mindior, being on Elysium during the skyllian blitz and coming out of it as a war hero, and her victory over Saren and Sovreign. Jack was there to witness her triumph over the collectors, and most recently Shepard had tucked the title of hero of the galaxy under her belt by defeating the reapers. Jack became slightly jealous of the little girl before her. She'd surely grow up with the love of two very caring parents, and a famous one at that. She leaned back against the desk and stared at the floor with a frown as she crossed her arms. Remembering her own childhood she felt the fire of hatred begin to burn within her soul until she was cooled by a soft arm wrapping around her own. Rheia looked up at her with her big blue innocent eyes. Jack glanced away and quickly wiped a tiny tear away. "Shit kid, I ain't one for all this mushy stuff. Let's get out of here."

Jack picked her up, and the child noticed the space hamster in it's cage setting on the shelf. "Oooh, look!" Rheia pointed at the hamster while it pressed it's tiny paws against the glass peeking through curiously. Jack stared at it for a moment, _god damn, Shepard. Fish, toy ships, and now rats?_

"Oh, you want to hold it? Okay." Jack set the girl on the desk again and brought the glass tank down from the shelf. Rheia giggled excitedly as she watched the woman pry off the lid. Looking up at her, the poor creature shook and it's whiskers twitched at the sight of the biotic as it made a dash for the tiny wooden home. "Aw, come on! Not even the kid's afraid of me..." Jack furrowed her brows together as she picked up the house and shook it, the hamster plopping out and landing in the child's lap. Rheia picked it up gently knowing it was a live creature and she struggled to keep the rodent within her tiny hands as it was eager to move and explore the space outside of the cage. She giggled and petted the soft fur, "Cute!"

Jack smiled gently at the toddler's fun. She realized smiling like this was something she hadn't done in a while. Of coarse she did laugh when she was poking fun at the cheerleader or others, but this sense of happiness came from something very different. Being around the child brought out her only soft side that usually lay hidden deep beneath her cold heart. Jack shook her head, brushing away her smile and mushy feelings. _Dammit, kid..._

After letting the toddler have a few minutes to play with and hold the hamster, Jack decided it was really time to get out of there. "Alright, time to put mister chubby cheeks away." Rheia didn't fuss, she handed the hamster over to Jack who gripped the poor creature as if it were a stuffed toy. Being trapped between Jack's fingers, the hamster sunk its teeth into her skin in a panic. Jack flailed her arm as the rodent flew out of her grip and across the room, "Ouch! You little bastard!'

Rheia laughed at Jack who was holding onto her bitten hand looking around for the hamster. It was no where to be found. "Um...crap. Kid, come on we gotta go." Jack pressed the lid back down on the tank and placed it back on the shelf in a hurry, picking up the toddler and rushing to the elevator. Pressing the button for the engineering deck, Jack glanced at Rheia as the doors shut. "We were never up here, got it?"

* * *

><p>Jack sat on what she called her bed as she and Rheia stared at each other. The child's eyes were full of curiosity as she sat there on the metal floor just staring at the biotic almost expectantly. "What?" Jack murmured as she scratched the back of her head, shifting nervously. She didn't know what else to do now that the "tour" was over. She suddenly wrinkled her nose, "What the hell?" Jack covered her nose then, "Awww kid you did not just shit yourself!" The girl only looked up at her innocently. She got up and picked the child up and the smell definitely came from the diaper. "Fuck..."<p>

She laid Rheia down on her bed and removed the child's pants, staring with a grimace at the diaper. She went to undo the hinges until she remembered she was missing something; a clean diaper and wipes. _Fuck! _Looking around her room frantically she realized the only source of baby products were in the diaper bag Liara had provided, which was left in Miranda's office. Glowering at the thought of having to deal with the cheerleader, she held her hands up at the toddler. "Stay right here. I'll be back in a second, okay?"

Tali, Ken, and Gabby were all used to hearing thumping beneath them where Jack had made her home and usually ignored it even though it annoyed them. This time though, the thumping of a pair of hurrying feet up the metallic stairs had thrown them off guard. Jack was never in a hurry to leave her secluded spot... They turned their attention to the doors behind them as they swooshed open as the biotic sprinted past and made her way into the elevator.

"What's gotten into her?" Gabby asked her fellow engineers curiously.

"Maybe she's really gotta use the bog." the Scottish man said.

Tali stopped her work instantly. "Jack had the baby last..."

"She didn't have the little bugger with her." Ken said. The quarian's heart dropped to her stomach as she rushed out of the engineering room.

Jack burst into Miranda's office, startling the XO. "Jack? What's going on? Where's Rheia?" she got up from her desk quickly.

"I need the diaper bag. Kid's gotta stinky, now where is it?" Jack demanded. Miranda's eyes grew wide.

"And you just left her where exactly? Alone?" she flailed her arms furiously at the tattooed woman in disbelief.

"Aw shit!" Jack tried her best to ignore the woman and suddenly spotted the diaper bag next to the playpen and grabbed it, making a dash out the door. Miranda chased after the shaven headed woman. Jack had made it to the elevator first, frantically clicking the button to avoid a ride down with Miranda. If there was anything she hated most it would to be stuck in a cramped space with that woman. The dark haired woman slid through just in time before the doors shut.

"What were you thinking?" Miranda huffed, catching her breath. "Wait, that's right, you don't think at all!"

Jack glowered at her, "I been doing fine with the kid so far. Just keep your bitching to yourself and lets get down there without any shit!"

Miranda felt like kicking herself for even letting Jack take the toddler in the first place. She should have known better. But for once she agreed with the tattooed woman, right now she had to worry about the toddler. The elevator came to a halt on the engineering deck and Jack ran down the stairs to her dark hiding hole, Miranda hot on her heels. Both women stopped when they saw Tali holding Rheia safely in her arms. Miranda sighed in relief and brought a hand up to her forehead, while Jack only huffed in annoyance. Tali faced her, and oh yes, she was definitely glaring through that mask.

"Okay so I fucked up again." Jack admitted as she was met with yet another smack to the back of the head, this time by Miranda. Gripping the sore spot she shot the XO a dirty look, "The fuck, cheerleader!" Another bold smack. If it wasn't for Rheia's presence Jack probably would have blasted her genetically designed perfect ass through a wall or two.

"Langauge!" Miranda snapped as she now crossed her arms.

"I think it's my turn to watch her now." Tali said seriously. Rheia giggled at Tali as she tickled her belly. "Isn't that right little one?"

"Well can I at least say goodbye to the kid?" Jack clenched her jaws and stared the two women down before her. Miranda and Tali exchanged glances, then both smiled mischievously.

"Sure, change her while your at it." Tali handed the child over to a reluctant looking Jack.

"Once your finished bring her up immediately to Tali." Miranda ordered as she began to walk off with a grin. Tali followed behind her and the two women disappeared unto the upper deck.

"Fine." Jack huffed as she again laid the toddler down. She winced, catching a sniff of the smelly diaper that was her fate. She opened the diaper bag and dug through it's contents, grabbing a fresh diaper and the box of wipes. She prepared herself for the reveal, and without looking unclasped the dirty diaper. _Shit shit shit..._"SHIT!"

Jack pranced around reciting an unbelievable amount of obscenities in total disgust as she frantically wiped the smear off her hand.


	3. Talking, Teething, and Tali

Tali tinkered with a few buttons on her omni-tool as she desperately tried to fix a problem the device was having. It kept freezing up when she attempted to download something and the device constantly became unresponsive toward the key commands. Becoming frustrated with a frozen display, she tapped the holo-keys harshly and began to mutter under her breath. The omni-tool began to flicker and then it suddenly shut off. Again the quarian tinkered with the device but it gave absolutely no response. She punched the keys, "Come on you bosh'tet!"

"Bosh'tet!" came a child's voice from behind her. Tali's heart suddenly jumped up her throat as she spun around to see Jack and the toddler. Jack set the child down as she grabbed her sides and burst out laughing. "And they worried she would get the bad language from me!"

"That's not fair!" Tali exclaimed and held up her hands defensively. "I had no idea she was in the room! Oh Keelah..." the quarian began to wring her hands. Jack dropped the diaper bag in front of Tali's feet with a wide grin spread across her face.

"I can't wait to see the look on Shepard's face." Jack teased before she turned and left the engine room. Tali grabbed the diaper bag and swung it over her shoulder then she picked up Rheia who was giggling innocently. Tali sighed heavily, hoping the child would forget the word and not repeat it. She heard the toddler's belly growl and decided it was dinner time.

* * *

><p>The elevator arrived on deck three and the quarian stepped out as Zaeed walked past, wiping his mouth clear of any traces of dinner.<p>

"Bosh'tet!" the child repeated, looking at the veteran. Tali's heart sunk again as Zaeed glanced at the two, his face seeming unfriendly as always.

"What did the sprout say?" the veteran grumbled. "I don't speak asari."

Tali fidgeted with her words, "Um, well...it wasn't..." she quickly thought up something to say. "I don't either."

Zaeed only shrugged, "Maybe I'll learn it one day. Pardon me, miss." He walked into the elevator clicking the doors shut behind him. Tali sighed in relief and looked Rheia in the eyes with seriousness.

"Don't say that again. It's not nice, okay?"

"Okay." the child responded bashfully. She hugged Tali and her belly growled again. "Want foods."

"I know little one, we're going." Tali assured her. She walked further into the mess hall, Garrus and Mordin sat at a table enjoying their dinner and a few others were about chatting amongst themselves. The turian waved Tali over, and she approached the two.

"Hey Tali." Garrus greeted her warmly. "And little Rheia! I knew she was aboard but I wasn't sure what was going on."

"Hmm, yes, little blue referred to as asari child. Shepard's child! Yes yes, must get to know young one, join us?" Mordin spoke as he calculated everything faster then one could blink.

"Sure." Tali answered as she set the diaper bag on the floor next to her seat. "Mind holding her Garrus while I get the highchair?"

"Not at all." the turian agreed. Tali handed the toddler to him as she stared at his mandibles. "Hey there kiddo." Garrus smiled, his mandibles spread revealing a good portion of his triangular teeth.

"Kitty!" Rheia exclaimed, grabbing onto the turian's sensitive mandibles and tugging at them excitedly.

"Ah, ow!" Garrus howled holding the child out trying to keep her from his face. She giggled happily at the turian. "Easy now- ouch!"

"Must be interested in turian facial build." Mordin observed with a smirk on his face. "May be confusing mouth with that of feline species. Regardless, very smart."

"Yeah..." Garrus mumbled. "Ow!"

Tali returned a few moments later, sliding the highchair next to her seat as Garrus set the girl in the chair who's hands were still wrapped around his mandibles. She finally let go, her attention now on Tali who began digging through the bag for the various jars of food. Garrus sat back down, rubbing his sore cheeks. "Sure takes after Shepard..."

Tali glanced at him curiously as she opened up a jar of mango flavored baby food. "What has Shepard done that concerns your face?"

Garrus' mandibles twitched as he spoke, "Well, when she wanted something out of me she usually went straight for the mandibles. Of coarse I understand, must be a fetish between you ladies."

Tali rolled her eyes and dipped a spoon into the jar and began to feed the hungry toddler. Mordin and Garrus continued their own dinner as well as they made conversation with Tali and spoke of toddlers.

"Wonder how asari offspring with human fathers develop. Very rare, very curious..." Mordin pondered as he observed Rheia, his eyes blinking just as fast as his thoughts processed. Tali turned her head to him pre-cautiously.

"Like any other asari child would, I assume." Garrus gave his opinion.

"Perhaps, curious as to what humanly traits child inherits. Eye color, facial structure, obvious! But what of brain activity? Development? Thinking patterns? Immunizations?" Mordin voiced his thoughts with a hand under his chin.

"Look, your not going to be performing any experiments on her so don't get all excited." Tali said forcefully. Though she was curious about the immunity system... Thinking back on an awkward chat she once shared with Shepard, she wondered if a quarian child with a human father would be able to live without having to wear an enviro-suit. Then again, she pondered if the different species could even reproduce let alone bear any offspring. Thinking of the whole idea, she wished she shared the same immune system as humans did.

"No no, would not experiment on children. Not right. Would not experiment on anyone without consent." Mordin said truthfully.

"Good to hear, Mordin. I've dealt with freak salarian doctors in my days back in C-sec. Not a great experience." Garrus chipped in before he stuffed his mouth with the last bite of his dinner. Just as Tali fed Rheia the last of her food, her face wrinkled and she began to whine. The three adults looked her over with concern as she stuck her fingers in her mouth and chewed them.

"Is she still hungry?" Garrus asked.

"I don't know, maybe..." Tali opened another jar and dipped the spoon in and held it to Rheia's mouth. The child shook her head as her eyes started to water and her face displayed discomfort. Tali put the food away and began to wring her hands nervously.

Mordin observed the toddler's behavior for a moment, then came to a conclusion. "Child biting fingers, crying. Mouth in pain. Most likely teething."

"What can we do to help the pain go away?" the quarian asked beginning to feel bad for the toddler.

"Baby orajel. Humans use for teething children...did asari mother provide medicine?" Mordin suggested, pointing at the diaper bag. Tali dug through the bag searching for any form of medicine and she pulled out a very sticky and empty tube that labeled 'Children's Orajel'. Remembering the carelessness used by Jack with the diaper bag, Tali frowned. _Jack, you bosh'tet..._

"Perhaps Dr. Chakwas has some of the ointment?" Garrus suggested as he picked up the now crying child trying to soothe her.

"Let's go ask." said Tali.

"Must return to lab. Hope child feels better soon. Maybe come up with medicine for various types of child pain..." Mordin said, placing his hand under his chin in thought as he left the table.

Garrus and Tali walked into the med-bay and were greeted by Chakwas. "Aww, don't you two look like a pair of adorable concerned parents." the british doctor said with a soft grin. Garrus flashed a cheesy smile while Tali clasped her hands behind her back and looked away slightly embarrassed to feel herself blushing. For once she was glad her face was hidden by a mask.

"So, what seems to be wrong with the tot?" Chakwas asked upon hearing the child's whining.

"Mordin believes she is feeling pain in her mouth." Garrus answered. Tali was quiet.

"He may be right; she is far along the age of the teething process." Chakwas stated. "Human children can begin teething as early as four months old. I believe it is the same with asari, though their complex brains tend to take a longer time to develop."

"Right...um, do you have any of that orajel stuff? Liara had provided some, but..." Garrus scratched the back of his head unsure of what happened to the tube of medicine.

"Of coarse. I had ordered a supply of pediatric items the moment I heard of Liara's pregnancy." Chakwas said as she ventured towards the medicinal cabinets and sought through the items.

Garrus and Tali exchanged looks, remembering the past event of the reveal. It hadn't been nice. "Had this stuff for that long eh?" Garrus mused.

"It seemed everyone was excited..." Tali said softly.

Chakwas stopped her rummaging for a moment, reflecting back on the memory. "Yes, well..." she continued her search, "It was a difficult time. Shepard's reaction was most understandable considering the circumstances. Ah, here it is." Chakwas pulled the tube of medicine from the box in the cabinet and grabbed a pair of latex gloves, slipping them on. She popped the cap off and squirted the gel onto her gloved finger and walked over to Garrus and Rheia. "Alright sprout, open up. This will help you feel better."

The toddler opened her mouth and Chakwas thoroughly rubbed the gel over the tot's gums. "It'll take a moment for the numbing to take effect."

"Thanks doc. I think I need some rest." Garrus said as he gently handed Tali the baby. "Taking care of kids is just tiring."

"You've only had her for twenty minutes..." Tali mumbled in disbelief.

"That was one heck of a twenty minutes." the turian admitted. "Well, goodnight ladies. Goodnight Rheia."

Garrus left the med-bay, leaving Tali and Chakwas alone. "May I stay here until she calms down a bit? In case something else is wrong..." Tali asked as she soothed the whimpering toddler.

"Of coarse." Chakwas answered, taking a seat at her desk. "While your in here Tali, is everything okay health wise with you? I don't think you've had a check up in a while."

Tali sat on one of the medical beds as she gently patted Rheia's back. The toddler's arms wrapped around her neck and her head rested on Tali's shoulder. "Yes, I believe so. I mean, I feel fine, but I think I'm a little...emotionally sick."

Chakwas turned in her chair to face the quarian. "Yes, it seems the ladies aboard are all affected by this sickness."

"What do you mean?" Tali asked, surprised. Just then, Legion made his way through the doors behind the med-bay, and EDI popped up from the console near the entrance. Still feeling a bit reluctant towards the AI and geth crew member, Tali looked quizzically at Chakwas. "What's going on?"

"Creator Tali'Zorah, we have studied the behavior in all female species in which they respond to being around children. We have concluded the females aboard are being affected by the presence of the blue child." Legion stated, his synthetic like voice startling the toddler. "We have come to recognize the increase of aggressiveness in your behavior as being over protective of the blue child."

"Shut up Legion. I did not ask you." Tali retorted while she rubbed the child's head in hopes of keeping her calm.

"Acknowledged." the geth responded.

"EDI and Legion have been observing the women's behavior aboard the ship. Legions proved himself to be quite useful around the med-bay. As he stated, you have been acting more aggressive towards others since Rheia has been aboard." Chakwas explained.

"Who gave the geth permission to spy on me?"

"We are not spying; we are observing." Legion answered as if to correct her.

"If I catch you anywhere near me or the baby that's not within this room I will blow another hole into your chest." Tali threatened.

"Accessing threat." Legion said waiting a second before he spoke again. "Alert- Creator Tali'Zorah's aggressive reaction confirms a 96.8% promise of her declaration. Her actions confirm our study."

Chakwas giggled and Tali glared at the synthetic being as she held onto Rheia a bit more securely. The toddler's cries died down and she yawned sleepily.

"Rest assured Legion will not harm the baby." EDI's feminine robotic like voice came from the console. "When it comes to children, each specie's females share the same maternal instincts. Each female responds and reacts differently; Chakwas has asked to keep observation on the different behaviors of each woman."

"For what?" Tali asked, looking at the doctor.

"Documentation, my dear. I am just curious to see how your ladies' instincts work. It's quite amusing, especially the responses of Jack." Chakwas said with a laugh. "I've never seen her care so much about the well being of another."

"Well she's not the greatest person to leave a child with." Tali said, feeling a bit guilty. "Um, I think Rheia just fell asleep. I should go put her in bed." She slowly got up from her seat on the med bed and walked towards the exit, feeling slightly awkward. "See you later doctor, EDI...Legion."

Tali went to Miranda's office. Miranda acknowledged her as Tali handed the toddler over. She stirred and woke up momentarily, providing Miranda with just enough time to change her into a clean diaper and PJ's. With the drowsy toddler laying on the bed, Tali handed the XO the diaper bag and held onto the pair of pajamas until the diaper had been changed. Upon undressing the tot, the women found that her diaper had been put on backwards. Shaking their heads at the work of Jack, the two finished prepping Rheia for bed and afterwards put her gently onto the soft mat of the playpen and tucked her in. The toddler immediately fell back asleep and the two women stepped outside the office.

"She was having pain from teething earlier. If she wakes during the night and you need help, come find me." Tali said quietly.

"Will do. I'll be keeping my office locked during the night." Miranda said to Tali's relief. She didn't want to think about Legion scanning the toddler's head for data with an omni-tool or Jack sneaking in and taking her under her 'care'. "Goodnight Tali."

"Goodnight." the quarian said as Miranda returned to her office and she began to walk away. Bringing a hand up to her mask and tracing the outline of it slowly, her thoughts were on the child and what Chakwas had reported. She sulked away sadly, wishing she was able to give the toddler a soft kiss goodnight.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Again, thank you all for your kind reviews :) Next chapter will contain more appearances of the Normandy crew!


	4. Miranda's Morning

**A/N: **This chapter is a bit different from the previous three. I have altered the story to some extent to make it a little longer then I originally planned and to make things a bit more interesting. I have changed around quite a few things, mainly the time line of which the story takes place and the past mentioned in a previous chapter involving Shepard, Liara, and their daughter. To get a better understanding of the story being told in this chapter I would recommend going back to the first chapter and reading the rewritten paragraph of Liara's history through her pregnancy. The minor changes were made to fit with my story of Shepard and Liara's past concerning their unborn baby, which I am currently writing a rough draft of. ;)

Also, I decided to add the events of just what Shepard and Liara are up to during their getaway instead of leaving them out of the rest of the story completely. I figured it was a good idea to include them and it gives the opportunity to push their story further. This is labeled under the Shepard/Liara category after all... o.o

* * *

><p>Miranda awoke early the following morning. She got out of bed, hair a mess, eyes heavy with sleep, and feet cold upon the metallic floor. She slipped her feet into a fuzzy pair of slippers and trekked quietly over to the playpen's side to check on the baby. She was still sound asleep with her arms resting to each side of her head and a blanket half way up her body. Miranda smiled softly at the sleeping toddler and stood there a moment just absorbing up all her cuteness. Her eyelids had a hint of purple shade to them, her long dark eyelashes curled upwards at the tips, her eyes looked perfectly at peace when they were shut. Her chin was round and tiny and her chubby blue cheeks were lightly freckled like Liara's were. Her head had further developed into that of an adult asari though was not completely grown, but the skin folds just below were fully developed and hard to see. Miranda found it difficult not to get attached but she couldn't resist the adorable face.<p>

Tucking in the toddler with a slight smile, Miranda ventured back toward her bedroom suppressing her emotions. It was hard to be alone with Rheia. Just as she began to make her bed, her communicator beeped and knowing who it was she scrambled to the opposite side of the bed where it rested on her nightstand.

"Hello Shepard."

"Hey Miranda." came Shepard's voice from the opposite line. "Calling to check in on the little one and to ask how everyone is doing. Liara's still a bit worried."

"Oh, shes doing great. Had a little of a teething problem last night but she slept through. Everyone-" Miranda paused a moment, "Um, Tali and I have been taking good care of her. How is the cruise going?"

"Great. We boarded the Starbourn Odyssey shortly after we left Rheia in your care."

"I heard that was a wonderful ship. Wouldn't mind taking a vacation on it myself one day." said Miranda as she sat down on her bed.

"It is pretty impressive. The views of the stars and other solar systems are not too surprising, especially if you've ventured the galaxy on your own ship. Liara and I have really been enjoying the food and are eager to partake in the various activities they offer aboard." Shepard explained. "She's dragging me dancing with her this afternoon." She added dreadfully.

"Well, just do your best I suppose." Miranda laughed. Everyone knew Shepard couldn't dance... She had proved that on their leave shortly after defeating the collectors almost two years ago and hasn't danced since.

"Yeah..." Shepard sounded unsure, remembering the embarrassing moment from the past.

Miranda shifted in her seat. "Shepard, I'm glad to hear you seem to be enjoying your time."

"Yes, we both are. Anyway, tell my daughter we love her and will be back soon. I'll be calling later to check in."

"Understood, Shepard."

Ending the call, Miranda went back to making her bed and then got ready for the day. Just as she finished fixing her hair, little Rheia awoke and sat up in the playpen. Miranda went over with a smile, "Good morning sunshine." Rheia rubbed her eyes making a noise in response. The XO picked up the toddler and took her to her bedroom to clean her up and dress her. She picked out an outfit for her to wear, a light pink shirt that portrayed nicely against her soft blue skin, and a cute pair of blue jeans. Rheia crawled across Miranda's bed toward the nightstand where her communicator lay interested in the object and eager to find out what it could do. She reached out to grab it before Miranda picked her up and brought her back to the edge of the bed to dress her. The grumpy tot whined and wriggled her body trying to free herself from the woman's arms. Miranda kept her grip and bit her lip in frustration, "None of that, now."

It was slightly difficult dressing a squirming toddler but Miranda enjoyed the motherly feeling it gave her. If she could only have one of her own...she began to think about her bodily situation. Rheia began to cry, the sound snapping Miranda from her thoughts and the woman picked her up. The toddler pointed at the communicator, "Want!"

"No. I'm sorry but it's not a toy little one." Miranda told her calmly. She gave her a pacifier but the angry child took it from her mouth and threw it to the floor. Miranda turned the girl so she was facing her, "You stop it right now."

"No!" the child protested as she began to squirm again. Miranda propped her up straight, fed up with the toddler's attitude.

"Do you need to go on time-out?" Miranda said sternly. "You better knock it off, now."

"Noooo!" Rheia cried, still squirming to free herself. Miranda took her to the playpen and put her down, taking away all the toys and setting them aside. The child began to throw a fit as she stood up and grabbed the rails, rattling the playpen wanting her toys back and not wanting to be in the pen.

"When you can behave you can have your toys back." Miranda said placing her hands on her hips. Rheia dropped down and cried for a few moments, Miranda ignoring her to show she wasn't going to have her way. After the child learned her attitude would get her nothing, she stopped her crying and tantrum altogether. She stood up again and called to Miranda.

"Are you done?" The XO asked the girl.

She nodded, her little eyes red and her cheeks streamed with drying tears. "Sowwy."

"Good." Miranda said as she picked up the toddler and used a wet cloth to clear her face. "Let's go get breakfast."

When Miranda stepped out of her office with the toddler in her arms, she could hear a commotion between crew members in the mess hall. One voice in particular stood out, one she was all too familiar with. She walked around the corner with a frown on her face spotting Jack yelling at Zaeed, and spread about the other tables watching the two sat Kelly, Kasumi, Jacob, Tali, and Garrus.

"You don't know shit about me, old man!" Jack yelled pointing a finger at the veteran with a blue glow around her figure.

"Don't need to, you can tell by lookin' at ya!" Zaeed argued. He had a duffel bag over his shoulder and all his weapons on him. Miranda approached the scene still wearing her frown.

"What seems to be the issue here?" she asked as Jack made a face at her approach.

"This asshole thinks Shepard's gonna get rid of me." Jack answered glaring at Zaeed. "Says I'll be the first to be thrown off the citadel by the spectre herself."

"I have no doubts." Zaeed countered, "She'll move on. None of you are that important to her."

"Your just mad she didn't let your sorry ass get your revenge you son of a-"

"That's enough, both of you." Miranda interrupted the angry biotic.

"Look I didn't come down here to fight." Zaeed said, shifting his weight and adjusting the duffel bag. "I came to say I'm leaving. Time here is done."

"Shepard wouldn't just abandon us like that..." Tali spoke up quietly. Miranda became confused. She looked at the crew sitting around the table, each face showing serious thought.

"When are you people going to move on? Shepard has begun to, won't be long till she leaves you all behind." Zaeed stated. "Can't believe I stuck around for as long as I did."

"Even if she did, we would still be a part of her life. We're her friends." Garrus said attempting to defend Tali. "I'm sure we all have plans to move on, it's only been three months since the defeat of the reapers..."

"Three months too long for me. This ship has done nothing but sit in the docks since we've returned. Half the crew that operated this heap of metal has gone on if any of you have noticed. Good knowing you all. I'm out of here." With that, Zaeed turned to leave.

"Yeah, go ahead get the fuck outta here." Jack said as she plopped down into her seat and crossed her arms. The veteran disappeared without another word. Miranda set Rheia down to her feet, crossing her own arms and looking at the crew. Clearly they all were in deep thought.

"Ignore him. He never was too fond of Shepard." Miranda said, trying to lighten the Crew's moods. She knew what was on everyone's mind, the shared thought was on her mind as well. They had all stuck around to aid their commander in the reaper war, they aided her through it all. They rallied forces of allies and armies with great difficulties and overcame the impossible. They fought by Shepard's side till the end.

Well, now was the end. The only ones who had moved on were Grunt, whom returned to Tuchanka, and Thane, whom had passed away, and Zaeed had just made his leave. Tali had planned to return home as did Jacob, Garrus planned to become a spectre, Kasumi wanted her existence hidden behind the shadows, Jack had contemplated piracy, and Miranda wanted to be with her sister. Yet here they all were, still at Shepard's side, who was in fact seeming to move on with her life. She had a mission to be accomplished with Liara; they had daughter to raise.

"You guys are all right. Shepard would always include us in her life even when we part. We've grown into more than friends, more than just commander and crew; we're...family." Miranda said truthfully, though she felt a bit strange referring to Jack as 'family'. Everyone was quiet though they each agreed with the XO. The mood in the atmosphere suddenly vanquished when a thought of panic caused Tali to speak up.

"Um, Miranda? Where's Rheia...?" Tali noticed the child was gone. Miranda looked down and then around the room frantically.

"My god! Where did she go?" the XO got on her knees to look under the table and Jack couldn't help but to laugh.

"Hey Miranda you look oddly normal in that position." the tattooed woman snorted.

"Shut up Jack, now is not the time." Miranda responded, still on her hands and knees. "Help me find her!"

"She probably caught sight of your freakishly large ass and got scared." Jack added with a snicker. Jacob hid his face in his hand and even laughed at this.

"Oh for god sake..." Miranda got up and continued her search as Kasumi, Tali, and Garrus joined her.

* * *

><p>Shepard paced back and forth as she waited for Liara to finish getting ready. She had many things on her mind and moving constantly seemed to help her sort her scattered thoughts. As she paced, she glanced around her surroundings at the various decorations and objects in the cabin the two stayed in. The decorations consisted of a few potted plants neatly stowed in the corners of the room, two large paintings hung on the walls, the furniture's frames were silver and the cushions black. The large bed was centered against one of the walls and the blankets matched the colors of the furniture. On the right side of the room was a viewport of the outside, and then the restroom and a large closet were on the left. A chandelier made up of various shapes of clear glass and crystals hung on the roof in the middle of the room.<p>

She continued to pace and adjusted the collar of her navy blue top a few times nervously. Upon seeing Liara step out of the restroom she froze in place. She looked absolutely stunning. Liara smiled shyly at Shepard's scrutiny. "How do I look?"

She had on a long red dress, top ended just above her bust and was supported by very thin shoulder straps. A good portion of her upper back was revealed and Shepard's favorite part were the slightly laced slits on the sides of her hips that exposed her beautiful blue skin. "You look amazing." she answered in complete awe.

"You look nice as well." said Liara as she stepped closer to Shepard sniffing the air. "And you smell...wonderful."

Shepard grinned mischievously, she had put on her expensive cologne Liara had come to favor and find irresistible. She took Liara's hand, "Ready to go?"

Liara smiled softly, feeling happy and fuzzy inside. She hadn't shared a dance with Shepard in three years and was excited she'd be able to do so today. "Yes."

The two walked hand in hand down the hallway passing by other occupants aboard the cruise. They came across just about every species though human presence had the majority. The ship's captain and crew were made of and operated mostly by humans and they welcomed aboard everyone. The employee's uniforms consisted of a long sleeved, high collared button up top and slacks. Some of them wore company hats and the uniforms were colored navy blue and the hems of the top yellow. Liara and Shepard stepped into the elevator, still hand in hand.

"If your shirt was trimmed with yellow, you'd look just like one of the employees." Liara commented with a smile as Shepard pressed the elevator commands. The doors closed and she stepped back adjusting her collar again, feeling as though she should have worn something a little less military related.

"Well you know me, I don't do dresses." Shepard replied sheepishly. Liara kept her smile, Shepard appeared strong and brave in the outfit and the color looked great on her too. The couple arrived on the deck of the lobby where they would find the dance-floor, restaurants, various bars, lounges, and even a staged theater.

"Wow! This place is amazing. What should we do first?" Shepard said as she and Liara looked around the busy area. Spotting the flashy lights of the dance-floor, Liara's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Dance-floor!" the asari answered, tugging a reluctant Shepard along behind her.

"Since when have you ever been so eager to get out and dance in front of others?" Shepard asked feeling more anxious the closer they got to the flashy lights.

"Since I have had you to do it with. I don't care about the others. Not tonight..." answered Liara.

"But I can't dance." Shepard stated nervously. "I'll only end up embarrassing us both."

Liara turned her head back at Shepard with that sweet smile, "We will dance as one."

Unsure of what she meant, Shepard just went along. She knew dancing with Liara would make her happy and she was willing to make a fool of herself if it meant they could have a good time together. She knew they would, she was just a bit tense and her mind was unclear. She had spent the last three months aiding Liara in raising their daughter and mending their relationship and now her mind was on their future. Shepard mentally thanked her crew for this time she was given with Liara, a time she would use to pursue what she truly desired.

The thumping beat of the music pounded through Shepard's ears as she and Liara approached the dance-floor with lights of all colors swirling around them and the other partakers. Liara guided Shepard through the crowds until they found an empty space where they could perform. Liara let go of Shepard's hand, "Okay Lareyne..."

She began to move with the rhythm of the music, a techno track with an electrifying melody behind the heavy beat of the bass. "Do what I'm doing."

Shepard did as Liara instructed, they were dancing very casually as Shepard was used to. _Okay, this seems easy,_ _just bouncing side to side..._Liara began to move a bit faster, "We want to get lost in the beat, move with it, keep up with the rhythm."

"Right... your body was made for dancing. Mine, not so much..." Shepard explained, already feeling embarrassed. Liara let loose, throwing her hands in the air and swaying her body and moved her hips to the beat as she grinned at the commander. Shepard rubbed the back of her neck uneasily until she was startled when the asari pressed up against her, still moving, their lips inches apart.

"I know your enjoying this..." she said almost seductively. "Move with me."

Shepard moved slowly, too slowly for Liara who took the commander's hands and placed them upon her hips. _Who_ _woulda thought she was such a partier? _Feeling the body work, her hands brushed over the laced fabric where the soft skin was exposed. Shepard's heart began to race upon the feel of Liara's skin that was quickly becoming warm as she worked those hips of hers. The longer she held on the more she felt these tingling sensations travel through her body guiding her muscles to move with the music. Energetic pulses merged within her nerves and she suddenly found herself mimicking Liara's moves, both pair of hips shaking, both bodies swaying, each muscle of the belly burning with every twist. _Whoa! _Liara smiled and held Shepard's hands in place upon her hips as she swayed herself closer and was once again pressed against Shepard, forcing her hands through the navy blue top and peeling it off leaving the commander in a white tank top. The music jolted throughout Shepard as Liara leaned in and kissed her, they were dancing as one. Their hips moved together, bodies twirled to the beat, tongues danced to the music...Shepard's hands roamed the asari's body, finding her exposed skin at the hips she felt the softness irresistible and intensified her mood. Liara broke the kiss for a breath, pressing her forehead against Shepard's neck and breathing in her scent. She smelled so good, she missed holding onto her Rey and getting lost in her fragrance, getting lost in eachother's minds during their meldings...

"Damn, when did you learn to dance like that skipper?"

Startled by the familiar voice Shepard abruptly stopped her movements as did Liara, though she held onto Shepard hiding her face in her neck in embarrassment. Shepard wrapped her arms around Liara, spotted Ashley, and smiled. "Ash! What're you doing here?"

"Partying, what else? My sisters and I took vacation together, so here we are. Not as good as a cruise on the ocean, but this place is damn loaded." Ashley responded, pushing through the crowd towards Shepard and Liara. She was definitely partying, Shepard agreed. Ashley was dressed like a hip-hop star, she wore a flat brimmed hat with her name spray painted across the front of it in pink and white, and her shirt was tied up revealing her belly. She wore short-shorts and and a pair of high top sneakers, and best of all she had a thick gold chain around her neck. Shepard felt a bit out of place, but was glad Liara had brushed the military tunic away. It seemed to fit the club dancing better anyway.

"Hey, you guys wanna join us at our table and get pizza? Have a few rounds? Catch up on things?" the lieutenant asked excitedly.

"Sounds great. We could use a break." Shepard answered, a stream of sweat trickling down her forehead. "It's getting hot in here..."

"Yeah, I agree." she laughed. "I'll show you to our table. I'm so glad I spotted you two!" Ashley exclaimed as she pushed through the crowd to get off the dance-floor.

Shepard looked at Liara who had a gentle smile on her face as she still held onto her. "Thank you."

"I have to admit, that was fun." Shepard told her with her own smile. "We'll definitely do it again sometime."

* * *

><p>Rheia ventured through the hall of the third deck, her little legs wobbling as she struggled to keep her balance. She heard the commotion of the crew frantically searching for something behind her as she walked up to the starboard observatory, the doors swooshing open. Upon entering, the child's face lit up in excitement when she spotted Samara who had her back turned to any who entered the room, sitting on the floor in her usual meditation pose. The back of her head and her light blue skin tone were recognized by Rheia to be that of her mother's and out of excitement the child called out to the justicar. "Mama!"<p>

Concentration broken, glowing eyes ceased, the asari woman turned her head to the source of the sound. Eyes meeting eyes, the child's face wrinkled in confusion and Samara only stared. She saw that the toddler was expecting her mother and was startled by her appearance. She also saw something else. Something she hadn't seen in decades. An asari toddler, a child of her own kind, a child with eyes similar to that of one of her own daughters. Samara stood to her feet slowly, eyes still studying Rheia. The toddler seemed intimidated by her powerful presence and her face wrinkled up with tears as she began to softly whine. Hooking a tiny finger in her mouth and unsure of what to do, the toddler cried softly looking around for her parents. "Mama..."

Samara smiled gently and walked over to the baby, kneeling before her. "There there, little one. There is nothing to fear."

Rheia shifted her sight to the justicar's face nervously but soon calmed down when she noticed the gentleness in Samara's eyes, a look she often saw given by her mother. Sensing the toddler was calm, Samara reached out a hand to her. Rheia took her hand, wrapping her hand around one of Samara's fingers and the touch sent a piercing pain from memories through the justicar's heart. Tears managed to escape her eyes when Rheia moved forward and hugged her. Samara picked her up and wiped them away before exiting the starboard observatory. She walked down the hall hearing the frantic commotions from the crew and turned the corner to see Miranda and Jack in a scuffle on the floor, grips at each other's throats as the rest of the crew worked desperately to separate the two.

"Fighting like this won't solve anything!" came Kelly's voice as she had a grip on Jack's leg trying to tug her away. Garrus and Kasumi aided the yeoman in pulling away at the furious biotic while Tali and Jacob fought to control Miranda's flailing punches.

"She lost the kid!" Jack retaliated through gritted teeth.

"My behind had nothing to do with it!" Miranda countered furiously.

With one clear of her throat, the crew dropped all limbs and Miranda and Jack's cat fight ended immediately as they guiltily lowered their gazes from the justicar. The other crew members shuffled their feet or made some other gestures of uneasiness as Samara's presence always struck a sense of virtuousness. "Ladies, I do not believe it is proper to act as so with a child of so young an age present." Samara's voice broke the silence, her piercing blue eyes staring Jack and Miranda down. "They are most likely to imitate those around them."

"She's right." Miranda agreed as she stood up and dusted herself off and played with her messy hair. "We should have been more responsible."

"You mean you should have been more responsible..." Jack muttered under her breath as she dusted off her hands.

"Yes, you _both _should have been." Samara said. "It is no concern of mine what you two do, but I expect better behavior from now on. At least while a child is present."

Ignoring the sneers made by Jack, Miranda walked to Samara. "I'm sorry if she disturbed you. I set her down for a moment to deal with an argument between two crew members."

"I see." the justicar replied. "Do not hesitate to leave the toddler in my care if you find yourself overwhelmed with...work."

"Understood." Miranda said as Samara handed her the baby. Rheia whined and wrinkled her face wanting to stay with Samara, but the justicar brought their foreheads together and through a mind message gave the toddler peace as she often did so with her own daughters to soothe them. Her whining ended shortly after the mental connection and with a warm smile, Samara went back to the observatory.

"I don't get that mind crap they do." Jack commented while crossing her arms. "I mean, aren't their eyes s'posed to go all black and crazy and shit? Or is that only during sex...?"

The others went to cleaning up the tables and picking up knocked over chairs, some of them baffled by what Samara had done to calm the child.

"Ugh. Jack will you shut your mouth and make yourself useful?" Miranda ordered. "Get the highchair ready for Rheia. She still hasn't had breakfast, I believe there is a box of cereal in the cupboards she can munch on."

"Alright, fuck." Jack obeyed and prepared the highchair for the hungry toddler.

"I'll get the cereal." Kasumi offered as she went into the kitchen area and went through the cabinets. She found the box of cereal Miranda had mentioned and pulled it off the shelf as grains of the cereal poured out of a corner of the box and all over the counter. It looked as though the corner of the box had been chewed away as well as the plastic bag that was covered with tiny teeth marks.  
>"Um..."<p>

"What is it Kasumi?" Jacob asked as he walked to the thief's side and caught sight of the box. "Whoa. Looks like we've got critters."

Jack's eyes went wide as she leaned over the highchair adjusting it for Rheia, ignoring the discovery as the others went over to see what had been found. She scrubbed the tray and hoped to not draw attention to herself.

"That's odd." Garrus said.

"Eww mice!" Kelly shrieked.

"How did the rodents get on the ship?" Tali wondered.

"They couldn't have. There's no way." said Miranda, bouncing Rheia gently on her hip. She looked at the cereal box and giggled when she saw the teeth marks, remembering when Jack had been bitten by the hamster.

"Mama's hamster." the toddler said happily. Jack winced at her words and knew she had to get out of there if she wanted to be spared a lecture from the cheerleader. Everyone immediately thought of Jack, her being the perfect suspect of entering Shepard's private cabin and responsible for the child's knowledge of her sire parent having a pet hamster. Turning their heads in the direction of the high chair to accuse Jack, the biotic had long gone took off and disappeared below the decks.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Samara's appearance was sort of vague in this chapter but I promise there will be more of her. Aside from that, I am hoping to give readers a better feel toward the current relationship between Liara and Shepard and Shepard's feelings. Let me know what you thought :)


	5. Storybooks and Kasumi

**AN: **Apologies for the incredibly late update... The writing spark is back up and running, and I hope to finish this before Mass Effect 3 (which I own nothing of, all belongs to Bioware) is released. Excited for it? I am! :D I've taken account of suggestions left in reviews, and to who is still following this story, I hope it surprises you. Anyway, enjoy.

* * *

><p>Miranda had hoped things would have gone better with the issue she had to deal with concerning the crew earlier that morning. She felt embarrassed and childish to have been caught in a brawl with Jack by the well respected justicar and her spirits were low, though she knew she wasn't the only one feeling so. The confrontation with Zaeed had put everyone's minds to thinking about the reality of being separated from each other, and most bothersome being separated from Shepard. They had in fact grown into more than just commander and crew, senses of a more family-oriented atmosphere had developed throughout the Normandy that could be felt by any stranger who walked aboard. Their bonds were strong and unbreakable, a team made of heroes to all and known to many. The last night spent before venturing out to fight the reapers, Miranda remembered, had been one of the most memorable times when the crew pulled together to comfort each other through what they were to face. Feelings were not set aside as they should have been being a commander and crew, but the strengths of friendship was what lead them to victory.<p>

She reminisced and a smile crept upon her face thinking of the crew as a bunch of siblings, fighting amongst each other or supporting each other when they needed it and Shepard being there for each and every one of them like the role of a mother. Speaking of which, she thought, Shepard had what it took to being a good mom, had all the best traits one could hope for in a loving parent. Again she smiled and looked across from her desk at Rheia who was on a play mat on the floor happily fiddling with various toys. The XO decided to get up and accompany the child for a few more moments of playtime before putting her down for a nap. Once the baby was asleep she could shower and relax. Their morning had been busy; the crew had spent most of it cleaning the mess hall and searching for any more signs of Shepard's runaway hamster which they found very little traces of. Just more chewed food containers and certain gifts left behind by critters.

Before joining Rheia, Miranda got out a towel and prepared clean clothes for her shower. She opened her drawer to get her under garments and was horrified at what she saw. Her favorite pair of silken black panties were shredded to hamster bedding. Upon the sight of the mess she wrinkled her nose and voiced her frustration, the toddler looking up at her curiously. _That woman just has to make things around here difficult..._

"EDI, scan the room and see if you can find any traces of that rodent." she ordered angrily. "I need to get Rheia out of here until I thoroughly clean this office..."

"Of course Miss Lawson." the AI responded. Miranda picked up the toddler and went to the closest room to her office eager to pass the baby on and get down to the engineering room to shoot Jack out an airlock. She entered the port observatory room where Kasumi sat comfortably on a leather sofa with her nose in a book.

"Hey there!" the thief greeted them cheerfully glancing up for a moment, then back to her book.

"Kasumi, can you watch Rheia for a while? I have a mess to clean up and rodent to find..." Miranda asked rather annoyed.

"Oh, sure. I haven't really got the chance to get to know her." she replied. "Should be interesting."

"Should be as interesting as your book." the XO ran a hand through her hair becoming impatient with the thief.

"What?" she looked at her now. "Sorry, the story's getting good!"

"Great, here. Take her please." Miranda said, handing the toddler out to the thief. Kasumi set her book down and took her from the angry woman. "If she gets fussy just give her to Tali."

Without saying another word Miranda left the room. Kasumi got up with Rheia in her arms and glanced around. There wasn't much to occupy the toddler with and Miranda didn't bother to grab any toys for her before leaving the office. She thought for a moment then got an idea after seeing the drawing on her wall that was made for her by a little girl she had rescued in the past. "Of course! Would you like to color, Rheia?"

"Blue!" she responded happily.

"Alright, let's set you down for a moment." Kasumi said. She set her down on her bed and went through the drawers of her desk. She shuffled through paper and books until she found what she was looking for. An old coloring book of various cartoon-like animals found on earth and an eight pack of colored crayons. Perfect! Setting Rheia down on the carpeted floor, she sat down with her and opened the coloring book to a page with a cat and handed it to her. The toddler looked at the picture curiously, tracing a little finger over the odd feeling paper. She then giggled pronouncing her R's as W's, "Hehe, Garrus kitty." Kasumi laughed and opened the pack of crayons and dumped them before her, handing Rheia the blue crayon while she took the brown.

"So, let's color kitty Garrus." the thief chuckled, "It's easy, all you do is..." Kasumi gave the tot instructions, coloring the body of the cat brown as she explained. Rheia picked up quickly, holding the crayon with a fist and scribbling over the page. A smile came to her face as she did so, grabbing other crayons to test out on the paper. Soon she had both hands scribbling busily over the picture bringing a smile to Kasumi's face. With Rheia occupied, the thief got up and grabbed her book eager to finish the chapter she was almost done with. She sat back down to her spot on the couch and began to read.

I_ felt you fading away... Your heart fell to the lies and hatred that surround you. Your soul fought, your heart bled guilt, you dropped to your knees in surrender; you had been conquered.__  
><em>  
>Kasumi occasionally glanced over at Rheia to make sure she was okay and wasn't exposed to hurting herself. So far the happy toddler continued to color.<p>

_Leaving behind I hear your silent voice as I scream your name. Tears are frozen as reality emerges from the depths of love; the fragile bond shatters into pieces. Desperately holding on, the shards only pierce my palms reminding me of hurt and the end._

She glanced over again, the baby still scribbling with various colors. So far, so good.

_All the moments of my dreams are razed away, the heartless being of which you became appears to _stay. _Remembering the time we shined like shooting stars across the skies, the shattered pieces I release slow._

_I have let you go._

Kasumi continued to read, her full attention caught in the grip of the story as her eyes paced back and forth as fast as they could go._ No!_ She thought. Her chest felt crushed, saddened by the character's loss. How could they break up? The thief's eyes raced across the page, fully focused on the story. Her focus ended shortly though after hearing a loud "rip!".

Turning her attention to the toddler she saw that a few of her books were scattered about the floor and in the tiny blue hands was a page. A page ripped right out of one of her precious books. "My books! No no Rheia!" Her face dropped and she jumped off the couch to collect the sacred belongings. Rheia only stared innocently at the frantic thief with the page still in hand.

_I only took my eyes off of her for a second! _Kasumi began to stack her books back on the shelf but stopped when a little hand held out the page to her. "Sorry..." the baby said quiet and shyly. Kasumi took the paper carefully and looked at the page with scribbles over the words. "For me?" She could still read them, another love story but with a happier ending. She often read that story as she usually became engulfed in a fantasy world where she imagined a happy life with Keiji.

Kasumi smiled gently, the stress over her books vanishing. "Thanks little one. I'll keep it forever." She got up and found a tac in her drawer and hung the drawing on the wall just above her desk. She stared at it for a second with a content look on her face when a tug on her leg made her look away. Rheia held the page with the colored kitty up at her, "For kitty?"

"I can't say no to those big blue eyes." Kasumi picked her up, "Let's go give it to him." The toddler smiled as the door opened and they were stopped. Jacob stood just outside the door, his hand reaching for the button to the room for permission to come in. Upon seeing Kasumi he quickly straightened up.

"Oh, um, Kasumi..."

He was obviously nervous, the thief could tell. "Yes?" she made a friendly smile in attempt to calm him. It worked as he smiled in return. They shared those friendly smiles an awful lot.

"I wanted to know if you would like to join me and the rest of the crew. There's tons of fairs and celebrations going on since the defeat of the reapers. One's not too far away we're going to walk down to." Jacob jerked his thumb in the direction behind him. "I think it would be fun for the baby girl here, too!"

Kasumi's eyes lit up. A chance to go out with Jacob, maybe push things further, sounded wonderful. "Oh it would! We'd have to get Miranda's permission to take her though...who's all going?"

"Well, everyone really. Took a bit of convincing to get Tali away from the engine and Mordin out of his lab. Still trying to get Samara to go... Haven't seen her come out of her room much since we've been docked."

"Sounds fun! Let's see if Miranda will go and if we can take Rheia, then speak to Samara. It would be good for her to get out." Kasumi said excitedly shifting Rheia to her other hip.

"I agree." Jacob said. "Glad your coming along."

Miranda sat busily at her terminal as she checked through her messages for any news from her sister, but so far she had only newsletters or spam. Since the defeat of the reapers she had still held her job to helping Shepard manage important news, requests, and various other information regarding their "treason" toward the Illusive Man and Cerberus. Though the majority of his army had been defeated and the man himself was locked away, Shepard still faced constant threats. It worried her, and she knew Shepard was still most bothersome by it. Miranda expressed her loyalty to her commander by constantly looking out for any new threats or dangers. As she scrolled through the seemingly endless list, one particular title stood out in full caps that read, "CITADEL SECURITY: WARNING."

Figuring the message was important being how they were docked on the citadel, Miranda opened the page and began to read;

_Greetings officer of the SR2 Normandy,_

_We have received various reports of an active geth aboard your vessel. Due to the amount of threat the synthetic beings may be, a warrant has been issued to inspect and secure the geth. Citadel Security officers will be conducting a thorough inspection of the reported vessel this afternoon-_

The XO didn't bother reading the rest as she found the report to be absurd. Miranda's blood couldn't have boiled anymore then it already had she was so angry and irritated. Shepard had cleared Legion's name a long time ago and his name was documented in the security's system allowing him to be on the citadel but accompanied by Shepard at all times. As irritated as she was, she snapped at the sound of her door opening and her attitude lashed out at whoever it was intruding in her space.

"Whatever it is it can wait till later. Get out."

Kasumi and Jacob stood stunned in place by the hostility Miranda expressed, but it was something they were used to. Jacob knew how to push her buttons and get the answer he needed. Straight and to the point, there was no beating around the bush.

"Miranda. We'd just like permission to take Rheia with us to the fair this afternoon." Jacob stated, expecting a quick reply. His expectation failing, he continued. "We'll have the whole crew watching over her at all times."

Miranda sighed, the thought of the toddler calming her for only a few seconds. "I suppose there's no harm to it. I must stay here, the ships to be inspected in a few hours by citadel security. Whatever you do you keep that child safe."

"Inspected? Why?" Kasumi asked curiously.

Miranda folded her hands neatly on top of each other in attempt to remain calm. "Because some idiots think Legion's a threat to the citadel and to all civilians even though he's obviously not causing any trouble being aboard a docked ship or going out and randomly shooting at people."

"I see..." Kasumi shifted her eyes away from the angry woman. Feeling slightly awkward standing there she began to shift her feet with Rheia quietly in her arms. Jacob noticed, with his question answered it was time to get the hell out of there.

"Well, we will be back within a couple of hours. I'll inform you of any emergencies if need be." Jacob told the XO, then he and Kasumi left her to be. Leaving Miranda's office, the two had a few eager crew members waiting for them near the elevator.

"Did you get the okay? Do we get to take the kid?" asked Jack who leaned against the elevator door with her arms crossed.

"We did, but Miranda isn't going." Jacob answered as he and Kasumi approached them.

"Damn, I wanted to dunk the cheerleader..." Jack almost looked saddened by the fact Miranda wasn't coming along. "Or have had the chance to throw a pie in her face."

Jacob snickered as Rheia got excited at seeing Garrus. Still in her hand was the colored cat she had wanted to give to him. Holding out the page to the turian, she squealed "kitty!" excitedly with a bright smile on her face.

"What have you got here?" he asked the girl as she was handed to him and taking the paper she held. Looking at the colored page, Garrus grinned as she reached for his mandibles again. "Thanks for the lovely drawing, kiddie. I think I'd be more like... A majestic panther, strong, beautiful to look at..."

Tali shook her head as Garrus propped the girl up on his shoulders and began to roar. Rheia giggled and held on to him as he pranced around bearing his triangular teeth.

"Hey hey I want to have fun too can we get going?" Jack interrupted the turian's impersonation of a wild animal.

"Yes, shall we?" Tali agreed, clicking the elevator button slightly annoyed. Garrus stopped in embarrassment, his mandibles twitching once. His attempts to impress the ladies usually ended this way.

"Uh, yeah, sure..."

"You guys go ahead, I'm gonna try to convince Samara to go..." Kasumi told the three. Everyone stepped into the elevator, "Well hurry up!" Jack told the thief before the doors shut.

Making her way down the hall, Kasumi entered the starboard observatory where Samara stood staring out into the galaxy. She stood tall and proud, her arms neatly behind her back.

"Is there something you need?" Samara asked without turning around to acknowledge the presence of the thief.

Kasumi never found it difficult to talk to anybody, she spoke confidently to the justicar. "Hey there! The crew's heading out to the fair and everyone thinks it would be nice of you to join us. It would be good to get out, you know?"

"I do not partake in such celebrations. I'm afraid I must refuse the offer." Samara said calmly, her voice soft.

"Can't take a break from your code for a few hours? Just a little? We're taking Rheia with us..." Kasumi tried her best to get the asari woman to go.

"A justicar never recieves a break. Our code is our life." Samara turned to face her, hands unclasping from behind her. "But in this case, I have given Shepard my loyalty and therefore I will be there to guard her family. I will go."

Kasumi felt happy and smiled, "Well great! Everyone will be glad. Try to have fun at least." Samara grinned slightly, then followed the thief to join up with the others.

* * *

><p>Shepard and Liara were just finishing lunch with Ashley and her sisters, the group of women spent the time talking about memories, the good and bad. They sat around a table with an empty pizza box in the middle and drinks all around. The humans enjoyed the food, however Liara had difficulty handling the pepperoni. The poor asari woman made a face at her first bite that the human ladies couldn't help but to laugh at. She had to take a big gulp of water afterward to get the awful taste out of her mouth. Her first time eating the foreign delicacy, Ashley poked fun at her while Shepard had peeled the tiny pieces of pepperoni off and ate them for her.<p>

"T'soni, you'd never make it as a latino with that kind of sensitive taste." Ashley teased her. "I mean come on, pepperoni, hot?"

"There's a lot of things I can't really handle, sis." Sarah, Ashley's younger sister said feeling for the poor woman. "Remember gramma's homemade chile? Woo, that was some hot stuff."

Liara's face had turned a slight shade of purple, "There is food spicier then this?"

"Yep, a lot more." Ashley said. She grinned, "I know the skipper likes spicy food but I think she's been satisfied with the hotness you added to those dance moves..."

Her face now fully flustered, Shepard nudged her in the side softly with a grin on her face trying to ease her embarrassment as the sisters giggled. "I suppose the coat stripping was a little extreme..." Liara admitted bashfully.

"Girl, you have not been to a real club. That was nothing, don't be so embarrassed." Lynn told her.

"And when did you go to a real club?" Ashley asked the younger Williams with an authoritative like tone.

"Well Abby went too..." Lynn was met with a sharp elbow to the gut by her older sister, only making Ashley cross her arms and quirk an eyebrow at her younger siblings.

"Hey, who wants to go swimming?" Lynn asked around the table as she and Abby scooted out from the booth eagerly to evade one of Ashley's protective parent like lectures.

"Gotta wait an half an hour, we just ate." Ashley told them, her look stern.

"Oh yeah...kay, we're, um, gonna hit the arcades then, bye!" the two sisters hurried away from the table.

"Don't think your off the hook, girls!" Ashley hollered with a finger pointed after them.

Shepard stood up and took a sip of her drink before deciding that hitting the arcades sounded like a good idea. She loved having the spare time to play games and nothing was better then having a best friend and bond mate there to join in. "Playing a few games actually sounds great. They've got that virtual zombie survival shooter I want to try out..."

"There's no way your gonna beat my kill count, skipper." Ashley said, her hand under her chin and a mischievous grin on her face.

"I do believe those are 'I'm challenging you' words..." Liara interjected, smiling softly at the competitive yet friendly nature of which Ashley and Shepard shared.

"You've seen me in action, Williams. You sure you want to do this?" Shepard stated, throwing in her acceptance. "Liara and I VS the Williams sisters."

"Bring it on, Shepards!" Ashley hollered competitively as she got up from the table while Liara and Sarah only looked at each other in silence. Shepard took Liara by the arm, "Come on, hun. I danced for you, now you have to help me show Ashley who makes a better zombie survivalist."

She had hoped to have had a bit more alone time with Shepard, but visiting with Ashley and catching up was a nice surprise for her lover, she knew. Liara willingly accepted being volunteered as Shepard's partner as her heart skipped a beat remembering being referred to as a 'Shepard' a few moments ago. She felt warm and fuzzy again, liking the sound of that. _Liara Shepard..._

The women left the dining area and made their way to the elevator, descending down to the fourth deck where the arcades were. Just like the second deck where dancing and dining took place the room was flashing with lights and all sorts of noises usually heard in common video games. Crashing, burning tires, gunfire, punch impacts, beeps, clicks and clangs; there were many games to play and Shepard was eager to try them all.

Ashley spotted the game they were to have their challenge. It had it's own room, and overhead before one walked in it was titled "_GamePhase: Rise of the Undead"._Inside were many phase capsules which ported players into the game once they were given their controller; a visor that, once activated, equipped the player with a combat-like vest and gloves. It was set similarly to wearing tech armor. Though the visor, vest, and gloves glowed correspondent to the player's team color. The visor's purpose was to transmit game data from the GamePhase servers which allowed gameplay once they stepped through the port, and also served as the game menu where players decided on difficulty, settings, and was what brought them back to reality. It also kept scores and saved player progression through one's omni-tool; Ashley had a high player score and made it a challenge to beat the old score each time she played.

"So... How does this work?" asked Liara who had rarely ever played video games. She approached one of the phase capsules to get a better look of how the console worked and all it reminded her of was a fabled time machine.

"Pretty simple. Just put your visor on, activate it, then step in to the phase port and your in the game world." Ashley explained as she was handed her visor from one of the game operators. She setup her visor, the glow around her head and eyes lit up in blue. Sarah had equipped her visor with ease which also lit in blue marking her as Ashley's teammate. Liara had thought the younger human was new to the game like she was, but after seeing her ready her visor like a pro the asari realized she was the only one who didn't know how it worked... Or how to kill a zombie. Ashley activated her visor and looked at Shepard with a grin, "See you in the game, skipper." She stepped into the port and was phased into the alternate reality. Sarah followed after her and with a "swoosh!" she was gone. Liara looked uncertain after watching the two disappear into the port. "Shepard, is this safe? Is it possible that people get stuck in there?"

Shepard had got to putting on her visor, "Where, the machine?"

"The alternate world... What if we get stuck in a world with those creatures known as zombies? I don't know much about games, but..."

Shepard picked up another visor and helped Liara setup and put it on to fit her comfortably. "If you get scared, just tap this key," Shepard explained as she guided Liara's fingers over the command keys on the side of the visor. "You'll phase out and be standing right where you are now."

"You won't get stuck, ma'am." one of the game operators told her, a young human male that looked and seemed to know a lot about gaming. "If the servers crash everyone is ported out immediately... You just disconnect is all."

Shepard tapped the key on the side of her helmet and reached a hand out toward Liara. "Ready?" Liara pressed her key, their team color being yellow, and took Shepard's hand with a slight grin.

"Ready."

Together they stepped through the port and into a dark urban-like world. They were in the middle of a city that had looked like no sort of civilization remained; cars randomly flipped around, broken windows to nearby shops and other buildings, knocked over trash bins; everything out of the ordinary.

"About time you two phased in. Sarah and I are set; difficulty on easy for the noob." Ashley greeted them. Her gear glowed blue and in her hands were two luminous pistols that were colored a little darker then the rest of the gear. Sarah was equipped with a shotgun and grenades hung from her vest. The Williams looked like a team ready for an all out war.

"Hey now, Liara can handle herself in a fight." Shepard stated as she clicked a key on her right glove that opened up a radiant screen of weapons to choose. Assault rifles, shotguns, various types of grenades, pistols... Watching Shepard, Liara clicked the same button as her inventory displayed and scrolled through. _Easy enough,_ she thought. _Just like using an omni-tool. I'll just use my biotics to help with-_

_There are no biotics, love_... Liara heard Shepard's voice through their mental bond. She glanced at her, the commander's face gentle with a smile.

"Well...great." Liara huffed, feeling the title of "noob" fitting it's place over her. Scrolling through the weapons, she chose a high powered pistol. She tapped the button and in her hand the gun appeared. It flashed until she gripped her hand around it.

"There you go, you have it equipped now." Shepard said, picking out her favorite assault rifle. "Oh, you can also find health injectors in the inventory in case your health gets low, and adrenaline shots to revive me if I go down."

"Yeah, if the mobs get to you your vest is what records your health, it's your hit box. You should see it displayed in a vertical bar on the left of your HUD screen through the eye piece." Sarah helped to explain as she readied her shotgun.

"Oh okay. Thanks." Holding her gun tight and making one final adjustment to her visor, Liara felt ready. "I am ready to begin."

"Let's... DO THIS!" exclaimed Ashley as she started the game with a click to her helm. The dark world they were placed in suddenly lit to life, the four players separated in different parts of the map as the undead began to spawn. Liara was placed onto a barren street only surrounded by old buildings and a horde of oncoming zombies which she found to be slightly intimidating. Their skin was gray and pasty, a few had missing limbs, torn clothing...The way they staggered towards her with mouths agape, arms cringed abnormally, lifeless eyes...the sounds of their groaning and heavy breathing only made her more anxious.

"Uhhh, Shepard? Can you hear me?" She pressed her hand against her helmet in a panic. "Why am I not with you?"

"We were supposed to spawn next to each other...Ashley I thought this was easy mode!" Shepard hollered through their chat connection.

"What the hell, sis?" came a shout from Sarah after Shepard.

"Haha! It's an extreme survival game. More mobs, less firepower... Gotta get to your partner if your gonna make it, T'soni!" Ashley snickered through the link as gunfire was heard in the background.

"Liara, hold your position. I'm on my way!" Shepard said, "Aim for the head, it's the most efficient way to kill them."

"Get here... fast." ordered Liara. She quickly glanced around for a spot to take cover, but there wasn't much to hunker down behind. There was no way she could defend herself in the open. The mobs drew closer and she aimed her gun firing a few shots and blasting their faces away. They looked real as did the environment... she felt almost as if it wasn't a game but a real scenario of survival. "What happened to the classic chomping of pebbles to progress? This is gaming to the extreme!" She tapped on her glove to reveal the map and player status, spotting Shepard's yellow dot a few blocks away. Figuring to stay on the move was the best idea, Liara picked a route to follow to get to her partner. Firing a couple more shots at the pursuing dead, she dashed down the back way of an alley to keep a few off her tail; or so she hoped. On her HUD screen she saw the sister's points quickly racking up as her team score slowly increased... Her kill count total was four; Shepard had nineteen and counting. How many could be behind her now if Shepard had faced that amount already? Liara didn't dare look back, she kept running. She sprinted around a corner only to have flesh hungry creatures waiting there almost as if they knew she'd be there. Squealing in surprise, she fired her gun on sight but it seemed like no use... It was one after the other. What to do what to do... Liara's heart raced as her fingers trembled over the keys to open her inventory in order to select another weapon. The grunting and growling grew louder as the zombies came closer to reaching her, their clawed-like fingers stretching to grab her. Just before they reached her, she found and equipped the shotgun and blasted the horde in front if her into a bloody mess... She suddenly felt her vest shaking around her torso and her HUD screen began flashing in red. The ones behind had caught up.

"Ugh! They've got me!" she screamed.

"Shake em' off! Hang in there, I'm not even close to your position!" Shepard told her.

Liara struggled in the grips of the zombie trying to get a better hold of her shotgun as it munched on the holographic vest. More zombies were close behind the one that had her and once they reached they swiped at the vest causing her body to rumble from vibration of the gear being attacked. She was down to seventy-five percent health and decreasing... When things couldn't get any worse the shotgun was flung from her grip and now she had nothing.

"Shepard...!"

"Liara choose the light blade in the inventory and chop away at them!" Sarah suggested through the link.

"The light blade is cheating!" Ashley retorted with a whine. "No way T'soni has it at level one anyway!"

"Not a cheat if you rank up..." Shepard piped in. "In extreme survival mode your partner has access to all your weapons, and I just hit top level. Light blade away!"

"Whaaaaat?" Ashley was in disbelief. "Where'd you get the time to play and get up there so fast?" Top level: One hundred-fifty. Light Blade; A powerful blade infused with holy light that, once wielded, disorients all nearby undead into a blinding cower for the duration of the wield and increases damage dealt by one hundred percent...

Glancing at the glove that now had a new shining button on it, Liara punched down in it desperately. A loud sound of a sword being unsheathed could be heard through the chat link as the legendary light blade appeared in the asari's hands. Her struggles ceased as the undead released her and cowered in fear, some blocking their eyes and others vanishing to dust as the yellow team's score zipped up in numbers.

"Haha, go Liara, go!" Sarah cheered her on.

"Cut em' up baby!" Shepard encouraged.

"No fair!" yelled Ashley.

Liara regained her strength and charged at the horde of zombies. "Raaaugh!" She sliced the first couple, ending their miserable lives with clean beheading... The next set were no match, they were all sitting targets. She swung and chopped, the points rapidly jumped up to the thousands as the zombies numbers declined. Liara felt like a pro player wielding the sword as she swung it around like some kind of highly trained warrior. She grinned wickedly as she continued to increase her kill count, the last of the zombies dwindling about... BLAM!

Liara's reign of terror ended as Shepard appeared and took her last kill. She glanced over at her heavy gun wielding partner with a blank face, then upon seeing her blow the smoke from the barrel of her gun Liara smiled and laughed. The asari wiped her brow as the light blade faded away, it's duration over. She hurried to Shepard and threw her arms around the commander. "About time you got here...now keep me safe!"

"Liara, we won." Shepard said happily, hugging her too.

"Ha! Can't call me a 'noob' anymore, can you Williams?" Liara blurted into the chat link.

"I call shenanigans..." Ashley muttered. She was having fun, but enjoying more giving Liara a hard time. "Alright team Shepard won this round. Good game good game... Next round in three!"

Liara looked into Shepard's eyes, her face showing she didn't want be left alone again. "That... You mean the game isn't over?"

"This round is, but that's Ashley's way of saying she wants a rematch." Shepard laughed. "You up to the challenge?"

Liara hugged Shepard tight. She wanted Shepard to enjoy herself, but at the same time she wanted her to herself...it wasn't always Shepard and Ashley had time to hang out with their demanding jobs; Liara's patience would soon pay off. "Let's show her what Shepards are made of."

Shepard felt a ping in her chest at the sound of that and she smiled proudly. Liara had accepted her, had she always? She waited for the right moment, arguing with herself that is wasn't time. Shepard had wished many things, but haunts of the past blew away any confidence she held and made it hard for her to accept Liara's gentle affection and forgiving.

Brushing aside the thoughts, Shepard readied her weapon and smirked at the asari. "It's on Williams."

* * *

><p>It had been about an hour after the crew left and the citadel security officers showed up to "inspect" the Normandy. Miranda had allowed the three officers on board, two humans and, oddly, a batarian. She didn't bother greeting them in a friendly manner, just her arms folded across her chest and a "follow me" was all they got. She lead them through the Normandy and as they stood in the elevator Miranda sensed one of the men to be uneasy. The obvious signs were fidgeting and looking around almost as if his conscious had the better of him. Maybe he was in awe standing aboard the ship of the hero of the galaxy, Miranda thought with a smirk. Or maybe he was afraid of geth? Whatever it was the XO didn't worry too much about it. She knew Legion was perfectly safe and hoped his non hostile behavior would shoo the guards out quickly.<p>

"Just do your clearance scan quickly and get off our ship without leaving me with a ton of paperwork to deal with." Miranda stated as she and the guards approached the AI core. Dr. Chakwas sat her desk busily going through some data pads only glancing up to acknowledge them briefly.

"He's expecting company." she told them, seeing one of the guards reach for his weapon. "No need to walk in armed, sir."

The nervous guard lowered his hands to his sides as the batarian of the group elbowed him in the ribs, his six black eyes narrowing at the man. The two human officers entered the AI core as the batarian skimmed through a data pad he had brought with him, "No paperwork for you ma'am, thats a part of our job. Only a few questions while the boys inspect the reported synthetic and I'll just need your signature here afterward for our records."

"Well out with them then." Miranda ordered as she placed her hands on her hips impatiently.

The batarian began, "Alright..."

Meanwhile inside the AI core, one of the human officers stood in front of Legion who fully cooperated with the officers. He scanned over the geth being with his omni-tool checking for any flaws and asked questions while the other officer stood nervously to the side. "Everything has passed inspection, geth. We just need to make a quick scan over your installed programs and neural network to pass you off as no threat."

"We possess no threat. We are sworn to serve Shepard Commander and protect her people." Legion said. His flashlight head turned to follow what the officer had just received from his comrade, a blinking disc shaped item.

"Yeah..that's why we must get rid of you." The officer snapped a button as Legion's headlight flashed red, but before he could assess the threat the officer quickly placed the disc on his chest which beeped and began to overload Legion's systems. The geth struggled and juddered around as electrical sparks coursed their way around his body, disabling any defenses and shutting down every program.

"Sensory overload...S-systems offline. We are sworn-sworn to serve Shepard-Shepard Commander." Legion babbled on, dragging out his final words before falling to the ground motionless. The light on his head dimmed and soon faded out. The officer turned to his nervous partner with a smirk on his face.

"Wasn't so hard was it? Now hurry up and re-program it before the head bitch loses her patience."

The nervous officer nodded and knelt beside Legion, hovering his omni-tool over him and began to punch in various keys. "Can't believe I'm doing this..."

The other officer crossed his arms and frowned at the man beside him. "When the geth reactivates and snags Shepard's little girl, the cred we get for doing this will be worth it. Quit your belly aching."

The hack specialist quickly finished his job, making one final scan over Legion and pressing one more key. "It's done. Bringing it back online."

Slowly the light returned to Legion's head and he got to his feet, quietly standing in his usual spot as if nothing had happened. The officer looked him over, the motionless but ready look to obey made him decide their plan worked. "Do not speak to anyone aboard this ship. You await your orders. Stay here until the time has come."

Legion nodded his head and his light blinked, "Acknowledged."

"Alright final question ma'am. Has the geth ever threatened a crew member?" the batarian asked.

"No he has not, you've been asking the same questions over and over, only re-wording them..." Miranda answered hastily. Just then the two officers stepped out of the AI core.

"The geth has passed inspection sir. We can report it a safe artificial intelligence."

The batarian eyed them questioningly, and the hack specialist nodded confirming an answer. He looked back at Miranda holding the data pad out to her, "Well, just your signature then and we'll be gone."

Miranda scribbled her name onto the pad and shoved it back at the batarian. "Thanks, now take your leave."

The batarian nodded his head in acknowledgment and he and the other officers left without a word. Dr. Chakwas turned to Miranda then looking at her for a moment.

"Miss Lawson, you seem awfully down. Might I suggest joining the crew out on a night of fun?"

Miranda had thought about it but she didn't feel it was appropriate. Somehow the doctor knew she had been depressed, and still was. The look in her eyes told her she knew everything that was going on, there was no convincing the doctor otherwise. "Jack's out there...I rather not."

"You are being stubborn, letting such foolish things get in your way of happiness. Jack will be most likely be off on her own, you don't have to hang out you know. Get out there and enjoy yourself." Chakwas told her. Miranda thought a moment, then smiled softly. Maybe she could reason with Jack ,and she and the crew could have a good time together after all. Anything that didn't involve shooting up mercenaries or crazed aliens sounded good to her. "Well...alright, I'll go. Thanks for the convincing, doctor." she said with a smile.

Miranda made her way out the door. Dr. Chakwas got up form her seat and entered the AI core where Legion stood motionless upon her arrival. "I got her to go out." she said smiling at the geth. "I do hope she enjoys herself. Now I'd like to monitor Tali a bit more and her behavioral changes, what do you think Legion?"

When the geth didn't repsond at the mention of Tali, his "creator", Chakwas looked at him with concern and slight bewilderment. "Legion?"


End file.
